Title

Author(s)

Document Type

Thesis or dissertation

Date of this Version

5-11-2016

Comments

Submitted to the Program of Organizational Dynamics, College of Liberal and Professional Studies in the School of Arts and Sciences in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Organizational Dynamics at the University of Pennsylvania

Advisor: Janet Greco

Abstract

The pharmaceutical industry is rooted in the ability to research, develop, market, and distribute safe and effect drugs that meet the need of patients. In many cases pharmaceutical companies attempt to accelerate their drug development efforts by acquiring other companies for their pipeline; however, there may be missed opportunities to protect, foster, and metabolize a core asset throughout the acquisition process: innovation.

The following capstone, presented as a single case study, focuses on innovation retention and protection through the lens of an acquired organization. While plenty of research has been conducted to prescribe how companies can become more innovative, this capstone explores practical methods for protecting existing innovative assets while reviewing challenges and opportunities through an organizational dynamics lens. The overall goal of this paper is to establish a suggest framework for protecting innovation in order to maximize organizational effectiveness.